


Blood Stained Wings

by Iruthb



Category: DCU (Comics), Red Hood - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Prompt Fill, torture tw - not described
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-16 01:50:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3469949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iruthb/pseuds/Iruthb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fill: "I’m you’re guardian angel who’s been breaking the rules and keeping you alive longer than you should be and as punishment I have to watch you die."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood Stained Wings

"It’ll be quick," Dinah promised, holding Barbara’s arms and wings securely behind her back. "Honey, you’ve got to stop falling for your protégés."

Barbara nodded, leaning slightly into her best friend’s arms, even if they were restraining instead of comforting right now. Dinah had a part to play just like everyone else, and this was what happened when you stopped playing your part. She took a deep, shuddery breath, feeling the Tether that connected her to her Person drawing shorter as he came closer to the room they were in. Red pulses of pain and muted fear radiated from him to her, and right now there was nothing she could do about it. Well, strictly speaking… Barbara could take Dinah in a fight, at least for a short while, especially if she caught Dinah off guard.

But she couldn’t take the Archangel, nor his vanguard, nor would it do her Person any good, in the end. He’d live another few days, then they’d go through this again, except her punishment would be worse, so his would be too.

"Do you understand why you are being punished?" The Archangel asked from across the room. Only his most trusted advisors knew what his face was like, and even fewer knew his true name. To Barbara, he looked like a dark swirling haze. She squared her jaw and forced herself to stand a little straighter, then nodded slowly. No way in hell would she show weakness now. "Resurrection, and extending the life span of your Person by intervening when inappropriate are both forbidden. Were you aware of this before you were assigned Jason Todd?" Another nod, sharper this time. Satisfied, the Archangel disappeared from view, leaving his Vanguard to watch over her as the door to the room they were waiting in opened.

Black Mask came in, dragging a half conscious Red Hood behind him. Barbara tensed, knowing the inevitable was coming. She’d watched this before, helpless to stop as the Joker had destroyed a child from the outside in. Dinah’s hands tightened around her arms, reminding her not to make this worse by fighting it. When the first blow landed, she flinched, but otherwise held herself tall, knowing that the Archangel was watching, and she was forbidden from looking away.

So she watched. She watched even as every wave of pain that Jason felt threatened to drown her, swallowed back every scream, fought every urge to tear her way out of Dinah’s arms. Jason was trying to hold back too, stupid brave boy that he was, but it didn’t make a lick of difference.

He suffered, and then he died, and it wasn’t quick at all. When the Tether snapped between them Barbara fell to her knees out of exhaustion, her throat swollen, eyes stinging, limbs trembling, clinging to the remaining scraps of her composure as she forced herself to stand again. The Archangel reappeared in a swirl of black smoke just as she was standing again, holding onto Dinah to keep her upright.

"Remember this lesson, Barbara," he said without malice. "Rest tonight, and tomorrow you will be assigned your next Person. Do not make the same mistakes a third time."

Barbara nodded, and watched him really disappear, along with his vanguard. Dinah’s arms were wrapped around her, supporting her, and when Babs turned to look at her she saw her best friend’s face was wet with tears.

"Come on, let’s get you to bed," Dinah said softly, and Barbara nodded, leaning into Dinah.

"I don’t- can’t be alone tonight," she confessed quietly, hating how her voice cracked. Tomorrow, she’d be strong. For Jason, for herself, and for whichever poor soul had suffered enough to earn themselves a guardian angel.

Tonight? Tonight she’d just focus on remembering how to breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos or a comment, let me know what you think!


End file.
